RIP John Wooden

[Titanxman04]

I know this is basketball, but in lacrosse we cheer the other team at the end of every game to show our respect for the opponent and to thank them for playing the game. so in lacrosse fashion, please join me...

Ra Ra John Wooden.

[XURunner85]

RIP John Wooden......I hated UCLA as a kid, being a ND fan but respected you as a coach and good guy.....more people should be like you...

[SixFig]

Truly a giant among coaches...and an even better guy from what I hear.

[wkrq59]

I did many an interview in my previous occupation and never met a man as kind and gentle yet firm as John Wooden. He made you feel as though every question you asked him was the most important he'd ever heard. He was to me the epitome of a coach, not just basketball, but any coach.
My favorite Woodenism? Be quick but don't hurry.:D:logo:

[X-band '01]

They've also got a nice vignette by Dick Enberg airing on CBS right now while the Memorial is in a weather delay.

99 years old and 4 months shy of 100 - simply amazing.

[GoMuskies]

As a Louisville fan growing up, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Wooden. He gave those of us in Louisville one helluva gift in Denny Crum.

[Snipe]

My prayers go out to St. John Wooden. Let the cannonization begin.

Esquire Magazine (http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/college-basketball-history-2009#ixzz0q24hJ0Xy)


UCLA, 1964-75: Wooden's Little Helper

"If the UCLA teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s were subjected to the kind of scrutiny Jerry Tarkanian and his players have been, UCLA would probably have to forfeit about eight national titles and be on probation for the next 100 years." Who would so slander UCLA, particularly during the era of saintly coach John Wooden? Their own legendary center, Bill Walton. Booster Sam Gilbert funneled so much money to players that NCAA probationary poster boy Jerry Tarkanian quipped, "The only team with a higher payroll was the Lakers." The NCAA didn't take action until 1981, by which point Wooden and his ten titles had been retired for six years.

Everyone loves a winner (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-uclalegacy040206)


"I hate to say anything that may hurt UCLA, but I can't be quiet when I see what the NCAA is doing (to other coaches) only because (they have) a reputation for giving a second chance to many black athletes other coaches have branded as troublemakers. The NCAA is working night and day trying to get (them), but no one from the NCAA ever questioned me during my four years at UCLA."

That quote comes from none other than Bill Walton, maybe the greatest Bruin of them all, in a 1978 book "Bill Walton: On the Road with the Portland Trail Blazers," which went on to detail how Sam Gilbert, a Los Angeles contractor the feds allege made millions laundering drug money, bought a decade worth of recruits for UCLA.

"It's hard for me to have a proper perspective on financial matters, since I've always had whatever I wanted since I enrolled at UCLA," Walton said.

Turning a blind eye a SoCal tradition from Wooden to Carroll (http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/11757857)


But facts are facts. And the fact is, Wooden was at UCLA for 15 years, from 1948-63, without winning an NCAA championship. And then from 1964-76 he won 10 titles in 12 years. What changed? Sam Gilbert's involvement changed.

Gilbert, a UCLA alum and wealthy contractor, opened his home and apparently his wallet to the Bruins, from Lew Alcindor to Lucius Allen to Bill Walton. When the best Bruins left school, Gilbert represented them as an agent, which is one of the most brazen unpunished NCAA violations in college sports history: Rich booster spoils the best players on campus, then becomes their agent. And the coach doesn't stop it. Doesn't even know about it. Maybe Wooden didn't know. But his attention to detail was legendary. Wooden literally monitored how his players tied their shoes and how they wore their socks ... but he didn't know Gilbert -- the players called him "Papa Sam" -- was giving them cash and clothes and cars before becoming their agent? Maybe. More likely, Wooden didn't want to know. That's how he slept at night, and that's how he won 10 national titles.

Sam Gibert Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Gilbert_(American_Businessman))


Known as "Papa Sam" and "Papa G" to UCLA players, he began his relationship with UCLA basketball sometime around 1966-1967, when UCLA player Willie Naulls brought Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Lucius Allen, to him for some counseling. He opened up his Pacific Palisades home to the players and became an advisor to many.[4] He bought clothes, cars, and even arranged abortions for players' girlfriends.[5]

Sam became the sports agent for the professional contracts of Alcindor, Allen, Sidney Wicks, Henry Bibby, Bill Walton and Swen Nater.[6][7][8]

Coach Gene Bartow, who followed John Wooden as coach of the Bruin men's basketball team, felt his life was threatened by Sam Gilbert. He thanked the NCAA in 1993 for not investigating the UCLA program in 1976.[9]

Following the death of UCLA Athletic Director J.D. Morgan in 1980, Gilbert began to exert more influence on the UCLA basketball team. Coach Larry Brown "ran afoul" of Gilbert according to a 1988 Sports Illustrated article.[10]

Following an investigation in 1981, in which, according to the Los Angeles Times, 15 years worth of evidence of transgressions had been collected[11][12], The UCLA basketball team was given two years' NCAA probation.[13] UCLA also was forced to vacate its Final Four appearance in the 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament due to recruiting violations involving Kiki Vandeweghe and Rod Foster.

Sam Gilbert was quite a man. Indicted after his death for laundering millions of dollars of drug money. He broke the rules at UCLA. Cars, plane tickets, money, clothes, abortions. The best program money can buy with drug money! He paid the players and then later represented them as agents!

Don't tell me that Wooden didn't know, or that the NCAA didn't know.

Paul Harvey, now you know the rest of the story.

[ChicagoX]

Interesting post, Snipe. I've known about this, too, and it's interesting that the greatest amount of cheating in the history of NCAA basketball was essentially swept under the rug. I don't want to take too much away from Wooden, considering what he did for the game and how much is players loved him, but that program was one of the greatest frauds in the history of basketball.

[Snipe]

Interesting post, Snipe. I've known about this, too, and it's interesting that the greatest amount of cheating in the history of NCAA basketball was essentially swept under the rug. I don't want to take too much away from Wooden, considering what he did for the game and how much is players loved him, but that program was one of the greatest frauds in the history of basketball.


It isn't a well kept secret. His own players have talked about it. Many different things came together as well. People loved John Wooden, the man's wife died 25 years ago but he still wrote her love letters and visited her grave every month. He wrote best selling books and went on inspirational speaking tours. Jimmy V died early and became a saint. Wooden lived long enough to become a saint and nobody ever called him out. Had he died at 70 years of age, that would have been 30 years ago in 1980. I bet more people might have come out then. But the living legend was still alive.

Maybe it doesn't matter if he lived or died all these years. The legend is a myth though, and people should know. Bob Huggins would have loved to get away with what John Wooden had done. Jerry Tarkanian laughs at the temple sports fans have built to one of the biggest cheaters in the NCAA history.

He lived 4 months shy of 100 years, and I am sure he did a lot of good. I am sure if the other college coaches had unlimited backing of drug money they could have done some good as well. In an era where nobody was paying players, paying players gave you a dynasty. Wooden made $35,000 a year when he started out, at least from UCLA.

Talk about teflon Don/John, Wooden is a legend in the highest order.

Coach Cal at Kentucky is a smooth talker. He has been to two Final Fours and had both of them vacated at two different colleges. He still got arguably the best job in college basketball at Kentucky. When they go down they only have themselves to blame. But Coach Cal is following the Wooden model. He "never knew" about what was going on in his program.

Wooden wouldn't survive today with his business model, and if he did survive he wouldn't dominate. Before Wooden we didn't have as much corruption in college basketball. One of the reasons we have the NCAA police we do is because of the John Wooden model. After he retired they went after the program to send a message, but never during the reign.

He set the standard for crooks. He was first rate. A criminal who made over $35 million laundering drug money funded his program. The same guy who paid his players represented them as agents. As we moved to the era of big money sports, he was the reason we had to have rules. Otherwise they could just keep buying titles.

Was he a great guy? I am sure he was. As a fan I would love him. People gush about his books. He was an inspirational speaker and a good coach too. His players swear by him, even those who openly admit they got paid. That isn't surprising. If I paid you money you would probably like me too. And if you pay me enough money and we win championships I will probably love you like none other.

Why wouldn't his players love him? If I am Bill Walton, I get paid and get everything I want. I win championships. I go to the NBA. Why be bitter? The only problem for Wooden is the Bill Walton is an honest man.

We need to be honest, at least with ourselves about the man John Wooden was. We have rules in place today because of men like him. It simply isn't fair. You can't pay your players. And if one guy gets to play them, then yeah he wins a lot of games. I am sure he was a great coach, but give me Robert Montgomery Knight anyday. The lengend of John Wooden is a lie and a fraud. Now that he is dead the myth should die as well.